Jürgen Klopp has told his Liverpool players he wants to see “more bravery, more fun in your eyes” – but says it is not time to impose too many changes on the squad.
The new Liverpool manager, facing the media before his debut match at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday lunchtime, also confirmed that Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino will miss the game, but should return to action within a week. Joe Gomez, however, faces an extended spell out after the defender suffered a suspected ruptured anterior cruciate ligament playing for England Under-21s.
Klopp told reporters: “We’ve had three excellent training sessions. The boys are willing to listen. But it’s not the time to change too much … Everything would be better if we had worked together for six weeks, but it’s not a perfect world.
“I only think about what we have to do to be stable in a game. To close all the doors. We need to very active. We’re playing a very good Premier League team on Saturday who have been together a long time. We have to run and fight together. I want to see more bravery, more fun in their eyes. I want to see that they like what they do. I saw it this week.
“But to get tuned as a team takes time … We need to get confidence back in our skills and qualities. Against Aston Villa when this team conceded everything changed … We have to learn again that it’s not important what faults we make in a game. We have to be compact and close.”
Klopp also spoke about the intense media interest he has faced since he arrived in England, saying: “I am trying to sort out my private situation and find somewhere to live, but the paparazzi seem to know about it before I do.
“Yesterday I was at dinner with my two assistants and someone asked for a photo. I had to say no. Every photo ends up on Twitter. It’s strange at the moment because we haven’t even played football yet. Let’s start doing what I’m here for … I don’t read what you write so I am completely free of expectations. But the pressure I place on myself is big enough.”
